


Run...

by can_i_slytherin



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Fights, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Natasha Romanov Lives, Near Death Experiences, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21598258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/can_i_slytherin/pseuds/can_i_slytherin
Summary: A story about Bucky Barnes being the selfless shit that he is.**BUCKY/STEVE IS IMPLIED. IT CAN BE READ AS A RELATIONSHIP OR AS A FRIENDSHIP- ITS UP TO INTERPRETATION!!**
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 1
Kudos: 106





	Run...

Ever since the events of the final fight with Thanos- almost losing Tony, Natasha being brought back to life- the Avengers had changed. Not in a bad way, not in a way that really mattered or was perceptible to outsiders. 

It was gentle changes like Peter spending more time at the Compound with Tony or Clint being overly touchy-feely with Natasha. Tony and Steve had also made up, deciding to let bygones be bygones and move on with their lives- better as friends than enemies. The engineer had also taken the time to get to know Bucky, not as the Hydra agent that murdered his family but as the charming, sarcastic man that Steve knew him to be. 

They had struck up a weird kind of friendship, Bucky being completely amazed with 21st century tech whilst Tony, as egotistical as ever, jumped at the chance to talk about his inventions. Though, it wasn’t uncommon to hear them, in the late hours of the night, trading stories of Howard and Maria Stark.

Wanda, through the loss of Vision, spiralled into a magic-filled rage and was taken to Karmar-Taj to learn to control her powers with all the other trainee sorcerers- though she was allowed home on the weekends, to see everyone.

Wakanda, by authority of T’Challa, was open to all avengers- new and old- and they had scheduled monthly meetings at the king’s palace- whether to catch up or just sit and enjoy each other’s company. 

There were bi-weekly movie nights held at the Compound, each avenger having control of the films on different nights, and small, more intimate gatherings held at the Sanctum once fortnightly. 

There were the occasional fights here and there, needing the attention of one avenger or another- but most were miniscule incidents like a scientist creating an army of evil robots or a group of criminals thinking that they could fly under the radar whilst committing bank robberies. 

But, there were situations when the entire team needed to be called in to fight- when armies of underground aliens burst through the ground in uptown Manhattan or ancient civilisations or merpeople crawled out from the ocean to wage war on humans. 

Today was one of the few  _ very bad  _ situations. 

At 04:33 on a thursday morning, the alarm bells sounded throughout the Compound- shocking awake all inhabitants- and there was a mad dash of superheroes as they all staggered around, pulling on tactical gear and finding weapons.

At 04:43, the Avengers had successfully made it to the area being attacked only to come face-to-face with a horde of zombies. 

Steve groaned, dragging a hand over his face as he strapped the shield to his arm, and turned to Tony with an amused look, “First the Chitauri, then Thanos and now  _ Zombies _ ?! Are we living in a fantasy movie or something?” 

Tony smirked, his helmet falling down over his eyes, and shrugged his shoulders, firing up his blasters, “I’m surprised that you know what movies are, old man.” 

“Old man?!” Steve spluttered, gently punching Bucky in the shoulder when the man giggled beside him, “You’re not supposed to laugh.” 

Bucky laughed again and shook his head, reaching up to smooth out the crinkle between Steve’s eyebrows, “It’s true though. You’re  _ legally  _ one-hundred-and-five, that makes you officially an old man.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and turned to Natasha, playfully glaring at her when she nodded and made a noise of agreement. 

“Less sass, more fighting.” the blond grumbled, walking towards the fight with a determined gleam in his eyes.

Bucky laughed, fist-pumping the air triumphantly, and took off at a run, his hand gun nestled in the palm of his hand, “You just don’t want to admit that you’re getting old.” 

Sam flew past overheard, firing his guns at the zombies, and shook his head at the two supersoldiers, “We’d really appreciate it if two of the strongest members of this team started pulling their weight!” He yelled through the comms. 

“What do you think we’re doing?!” Bucky yelled back, knifing a zombie through the skull when it got too close to him and shot another that had begun to sneak up on Steve. 

“ _Zombies_?! This is so cool!” A young-sounding voice yelled through the comms and everyone froze as Peter dropped into the fight, decked out in his suit. 

“Parker?!” Bucky yelled incredulously, “What are you doing here?! Go home!” 

“Yeah, tried that, doesn’t work too well. We need all the help we can get at this point, we’re surrounded.” Tony replied and Bucky rolled his eyes, watching at the engineer flew around the streets, taking out as many of the undead as he could. 

Bucky rolled his eyes but, albeit reluctantly, allowed the kid to join the fight, scanning the battlefield for the source of the horde. 

“Fuck me!” Bucky yelled as he noticed a group of zombies split from the group and head towards a residential building, "Fuck, shit. We got some nasties heading towards an apartment complex." He grabbed Peter by the scruff of his neck, carrying him to the sidelines, "Me and Peter are gonna vote evacuate. Can you guys hold down the fort whilst we do it?” 

“Yeah, go!” Tony yelled, “I called for back-up.” 

As if on cue, Stephen and Wanda descended from the sky in a haze of bright-red tendrils and dropped into the fight, magic weaving through the air as they ripped into the undead surrounding them. 

Peter and Bucky shared an impressed look before taking off towards the horde of undead that had started to move towards the block of flats. 

With Bucky's superspeed and Peter's webs, they made it to the building 

"Tony! Get the emergency services on the phone! We need the fire department and the police to get here and help with the evac!" Steve's voice sounded through the comms. 

FRIDAY's voice came next, " _The emergency services are already aware of the situation Captain Rogers. They have given me an ETA of 12 minutes._ " 

"Shiiiit! Okay. Sam, I need you to get Hawkeye in that office building, we need to search for civilians." Steve ordered. 

"Copy that, Cap!" Clint and Sam yelled in unison. 

Bucky tuned out of the conversation, focusing on his evacuation task, and took off through the building, knocking on every door in the corridor. 

"Come on, we all need to leave! We're under attack and you need to get to safety!" Bucky yelled, smiling gently at confused, sleepy residents. 

Peter shot a web up the stairwell, climbing to the second floor, and began to repeat what Bucky had been doing, helping as many people escape as he could. 

There was a loud scream from the third floor and Bucky took off at a run, climbing the stairs with incredible accuracy. When he reached the room, he saw that a bunch of the zombies had climbed up through the fire escape of the building and busted into the apartment of a teenage mother. 

The woman was curled up in the corner, her two-month old baby shielded with her body, and she sobbed gently, whispering soothing words of comfort to the infant. 

Bucky took out the three zombies that had entered the apartment and yelled for Peter through the comms, "I need you go get to apartment 3D! We've got a teen and a baby that need to get out of here!" Bucky stepped out of the room and stared down the corridor at the twenty zombies that had begun to flock through the building. 

Peter swung into the room, landing gracefully in front of the woman and child, and offered them a hand. The woman smiled gratefully and took Peter's hand, standing on shaky legs. Peter tugged her close, allowing her to lean her body weight on him, and stared at Bucky with an expectant look. 

"You get going." Bucky whispered, his heart thumping against his chest as he watched the group of undead stagger towards him. 

"What about you?" Peter questioned, gripping tightly onto the woman as he fired a web at the wall behind Bucky's head. 

The ex-assassin stood with his back to the staircase that led to the roof, aiming his gun towards the beasts that were heading his way, and took out a few of them before they could get any closer. 

Bucky smiled and shook his head, reaching up to turn off his comms, "Don't you worry about me, kid. I'm right behind you." 

Peter nodded and took off up the stairwell, holding the woman close to him as he busted out of the door and onto the roof. Bucky followed them up the stairs, walking backwards and taking out as many zombies as he could while he was at it. 

He glanced over his shoulder, making sure that Peter was safe on the roof before he closed the door and locked it, leaning against it for safe measure. 

Peter pounded on the door, "Bucky?! What are you doing?! Open the door!!" 

Bucky shook his head, tears gathering in his eyes, and turned to the door, "No! You get going, kid! Get to safety!" 

"I'm not leaving you here, Bucky!" Peter argued, his voice tight and filled with emotion. Even without seeing him, Bucky could tell that he was crying. 

"You ain't got a choice!" 

"Of course, I do! Let me help you! Just open the door, please!" Peter screamed, hammering on the door. 

"Go!" Bucky took down another three zombies, "I'm not asking you again!" 

"I don't want you to die." The kid's voice was small and Bucky's heart clenched painfully. 

He smiled and reached up to wipe away a tear that had slipped down his cheek, "I know, but it's gonna be okay. If anyone should die, it's me. Now, you get going, okay?"

"I can't!" Peter sobbed, thumping weakly against the door, "I can't just leave you. Please, Bucky, please don't do this."

Bucky bit his tongue to stop a sob escaping and fired multiple shots into the crowd of hostiles that had gathered at the foot of the stairs- there were at least thirty five of them and Bucky knew that his chances of survival were low. 

"You go, Peter! You get out of here. I deserve this, okay?" 

Peter sobbed, "You don't! You're a good man, Bucky! You hug me when I feel sad, and you help me when I have nightmares. You help me study and do my homework and you cook the best pancakes. Please, Bucky! Please!" 

Bucky sobbed brokenly, "Just go! Peter, go! It's alright, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine. You just get going, okay? You get going." The zombies started trickling up the stairs, closing in on him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for his inevitable death.

Steve would be fine- he had Tony and Sam and Natasha. Peter would be okay- he had Steve. They would all be okay. They'd have their time to mourn, but then they'd move on and Bucky was okay with that. He knew, deep down, that his memory would be preserved with the Avengers- they wouldn't let him die in vain. For the first time since the war with Thanos, Bucky felt his life had meaning and importance. 

So, he relaxed and waited for death to come. 

But, suddenly, a blinding white light flashed behind his eyelids and a gentle thrum followed by a crackle resounded through the air, accompanied by the sound of bodies hitting the floor. 

Suddenly, there were hands on his face, wiping away his tears, and a metallic sensation on his bionic forearm. 

"You goddamn stupid fucking jerk!" Steve's voice hissed, followed by a bitter, wet sounding laugh. "You on some kind of self-sacrificing stupid suicidal streak?! You could've made it out as well, you fucking asshole!" 

"Goddamn, Buckaroo. I thought I was bad with the self-sacrificing streak. Think you've one-upped me there, bud." Tony replied, his voice shaking with anger, but keeping it better contained than Steve. 

"St-Stevie. T-Tony." Bucky gasped, forcing his eyelids open, and immediately regretting it when he did. 

Steve was stood directly in front of him, shield in one hand and Mjölnir in the other, and his eyes were a bright mixture of white and blue, shining with the power of lighting coursing through his veins. His body shook, from adrenaline and exhaustion, and his face was bright-red with anger. He had tears streaming down his cheeks and his lips were bitten red raw. There was a gash across his cheekbone that looked red raw and had dried blood around the edges and his face was black with dirt and grime from the battle. His suit was ripped at the chest, the silver star that adorned it had been ripped off, and a small cut crossed the hole there. His gloves were gone, obviously having been disgusted during the fight, and his hands, still cupping Bucky's cheeks, were blackened and grimy- much like his face. The shield and the hammer lay discarded at his feet, useless without their master to wield them.

Bucky's eyes crossed over to Tony, his suit was scratched to hell and greatly discoloured. It was covered in dust and blood- Bucky couldn't decide if it was his own or the zombies'. The helmet of his suit had been discarded, revealing his eyes- red-rimmed and puffy, glassed over with unwashed tears, and he had dried water marks on his cheeks. His brow was furrowed in concern and he had a heavy hand laid on Bucky's forearm, gently squeezing the metal. 

"Don't you ever do that to us again." Tony whispered, his voice hoarse from overuse. 

"I won't." Bucky replied, shifting his hand slightly so he could grasp Tony's wrist and give it a gentle squeeze. 

"I'm going to leave you alone with Capsicle. He looks like he has some things that need to be said without prying ears. I'll go get the kid from the roof. No doubt he's exhausted himself, I'll keep him pacified until he can see you." Tony whispered, walking away with a lingering touch to Bucky's wrist and to Steve's shoulder. 

Steve smiled, though it came out as more of a grimace, and turned back to Bucky when Tony was out of earshot. He surged forward, wrapping his arms around Bucky's waist, and buried his head in the brunet's neck, his tears falling into the collar of Bucky's suit. 

Bucky stumbled slightly, hitting the door with a loud bang, and giggled gently at the blond. 

"I thought I'd lost you, Buck." Steve choked out, his hands squeezing at Bucky's hips, "I thought you were gone. Hearing Peter screaming for you, hearing your comms turn off, I thought the worst. I thought you were dead. You were always so selfless, always willing to die to help others. Never leave anyone behind, but you were always happy to be left behind if it meant that other people would survive. It was always your best and worst feature. Drove me insane, but melted my heart at the same time." 

Bucky chuckled, a wet, humourless noise, and pressed a kiss into Steve's dirt-filled hair, carding his fingers through it at the same time, "I'm sorry, Stevie. I'm so fucking sorry." 

"You fuckin' will be, you absolute bastard." Steve mumbled, a hint of amusement in his voice, and Bucky snorted in response. 

"You're a punk." Bucky tightened his grip on Steve by a fraction and smiled softly into his hair. 

Steve jabbed him in the ribs, "Jerk."

The brunet felt a swell of adoration for the man in his arms and pressed a second kiss into his hair, "I love you." 

Steve pressed a kiss into Bucky's shoulder, "I love you too." He paused for a moment, humming thoughtfully, "We should get back to the others. They're all worried. Heck, even Sam's getting all ansty." 

Bucky laughed and nodded, slipping his flesh hand into Steve's as they walked out of the building and towards the team. 

Peter, who had been pacing across the sidewalk, made a loud shrieking noise upon seeing Bucky and Steve before he took off across the street, tackling the older brunet in a hug. 

The ex-assassin laughed gently, taking his hand from Steve's, and wrapped his arms around Peter's shoulders, gently rubbing his back as the teen began to sob quietly, his tears dripping onto Bucky's tactical vest. 

"I hate you. You're a complete bastard and I hate you." Peter grumbled, his voice muffled from where his face was smooshed into Bucky's chest. 

Bucky chuckled, "I love you too, kid." 

" _ Never  _ do that again. Or I'll kill you myself." The webslinger muttered. Bucky nodded, resting his chin atop Peter's head, and smiled at the rest of the team who had anxiously gathered around the trio. 

Natasha stepped forward, glassy-eyed, and glared at Bucky when he smirked in amusement, "I agree with the kid. You pull another stunt like that and you're done for, Barnes." 

"I won't, I promise." Bucky whispered, feeling slightly ashamed under their concerned gazes, "I just wanted to keep the kid safe."

They nodded in understanding and smiled gently at him before turning away to the cops and fire brigade who had begun to clean up the corpses from the street. 

"We should join the clean up effort." Peter whispered, pulling away from Bucky with red-rimmed, tired eyes. 

"You should go home and get some sleep." Bucky replied. 

Steve nodded in agreement, wrapping one arm around Bucky's waist while the other ended up around Peter's shoulders, and pulled them both closer, "I have to agree with Buck there, Queens, you head home, okay? We've got it handled from here." 

"Okay," Peter punctuated his sentence with a nod, "but on one condition," Steve and Bucky arched their eyebrows in response, "I'm skipping school tomorrow." Steve went to protest but Peter raised his hand and cut him off, "Before you lecture me about how education is important, my grades are three times what they should be, missing one day won't matter." 

Steve sighed and smiled gently, "Okay, kid. Deal. Now scram, get some sleep, we'll see you tomorrow." 

Peter smiled and stepped away from the two supersoldiers, firing a web into a nearby building before swinging away on it and out of sight. 

Bucky and Steve watched him go before joining the clean up. 

Later that night, Steve showed Bucky multiple reasons to live- proving to him that he was needed and that he was a good man. 


End file.
